Currently doing Exodus 90 with a group of men at my local parish. This video is what I needed to hear. I have no idea how to fast and now I see I don't know how to feast either. The part on gluttony was eye opening. I see how spoiled and consumer driven I am with luxruries such as food and drink. This video was great. thank you so much.
+JMJ+ Great discussion! Our daughter is a nun with the Dominican Sisters of Wanganui in New Zealand and I can honestly tell you that they really know how to follow the liturgical calendar and feast accordingly. It is always ordered appropriately.
For St Joseph’s feast day and altar table, I make the Sicilian cookies my Nana used to baked for us as grandkids. Nana always prayed before she baked! She was full of wisdom. This tradition reminds me to pray for her dear soul. ❤️
Tradition is the right word. I am glad to hear that. Family/Church traditions leave an impression and tie to the family that I hope to leave with my children. God bless!
What a wonderful episode today, guys. It really lived up to its title, as it has been a true feast enjoying it and learning with you. I had never seen in this way the activities that we do daily and that we take for granted without thanking, offering and valuing them. That is why we miss the opportunity to be happy people and stay that way in the Lord. Thank you very much and may God continue to bless you and strengthen you always with your family. Greetings!
Can you talk about your abstinence from sugar and alcohol for 44 days 25:45? Will you do that multiple times in a calendar year leading up to certain feasts?
Hi @Innocentivs thanks for the question. I currently do that twice a year, Lent and Advent. Both in preparation for Easter and Christmas respectfully. To correct, I should have said 46 days, referring to the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Those are two consumables (you might have other ones) that I enjoy but have noticed in our world of convenience and ease of access, even when I would only partake in them one or two days a week, their ability to allow me to enter into the joy of the feast was greatly diminished. When I decided to give them up completely, for the entirety of Lent (including Sundays), the experience was greatly enhanced and enjoyable. It was not a situation of overindulging, but one of enjoying the goodness of God's creation in celebration with other family and friends. As with the psychosomatic nature of our being, there is a mental element as well. I would feel their addictive tendencies throughout the week, even when only limiting consumption to Sundays only, but when I was committed to not partaking in them for that long, those tendencies and cravings were gone by the end of the second week. I hope that this helps. I am by no means a star example and appreciate your prayers as I strive for a deeper self-mastery in Christ. AMDG - John
John, thank you for this very thoughtful response. It is very helpful to understand the specifics of how and why you implemented your penance of abstinence from sugar and alcohol. I was inspired by what you said and am in the process of a 45 day fast ending on the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Keep up all the great work. Really appreciate what you and Sam are doing with the CG, it has made a big impact on my life. I will pray for you both!
Hi guys, thank you for this episode. Got to correct you on something though... Dutch people are from The Kingdom of The Netherlands, not Holland. Holland are two provinces: south-Holland and north-Holland. So big difference there. Also, The Netherlands is very much NOT a Catholic country or Catholic culture... We get up at 7 work till 17:00 eat at 17:30 and go to bed as soon as we are done staring at the TV. Of course some of us are trying to break away from this culture, but man we are far from an example for you guys. When you talk about the 'European Culture' there is none. You'll have to be more specific. Thought i'd share this feedback with you guys. John just met a good couple I guess.
Hi @HenricusXII. All great points. Thank you for commenting. When I was saying it, I knew I would get the location wrong. My apologies and thank you. The point that I was hoping to make is that here in America we do not know how to slow down and spend quality time with those closest to us. Our occupation does not serve our vocation, it is the other way around and this is encouraged at every level of society. Add the constant distractions and noise from our social media feeds, and we literally don't know how to interact with people and enjoy time together. Anyways, thanks again. Please keep us in your prayers. - John
Thank you very much for the response. You are absolutley right. This must be the struggle in every western country. We men need to make the difference for our families. God bless you guys!
You aren't getting specific enough. Everything you've said has been relative. How can I tell if i am feasting correctly? How do i know if i am just doing as the world does when i feast? You haven't provided a standard i can measure my behaviour by.
I appreciate these questions. The nature of the podcast is to open up a conversation on these subjects, so coming at it with that in mind, I agree that this can be difficult for us to know we have been satisfied with our fulfillment of the feast. I very often want to know when I am doing something right or not. When discussing feasting, I will start out by saying that while there is a moral component to the subject it is not strictly a moral issue. To my understanding, feasting is a positive (or affirmative) precept of the Faith. With the affirmative precepts, there is not a specific guide that everyone can follow exactly the same. It is rather a state of celebrating in union with the Church. We did discuss some general guidelines such as feasting centered on love and appreciation that is done joyfully, moderately, and liturgically. These guidelines can answer some of your questions. Liturgically, for instance, this is not how the world feasts. They do not celebrate on Sundays or Christmas because of Christ. We do. When food and drink enter into the conversation, there is the concern of indulging immoderately. This is why we mentioned St. Thomas Aquinas. However, even in his explanation of gluttony what is 'too much' for one might not be too much for another. If this is a concern, take it to prayer and a spiritual director. We also discussed ways that, even if you are trying to feast liturgically, you might remove the fullness of the joy by indulging too frequently throughout the weeks leading up. To our knowledge, there are no direct rules that you can follow to check off only guidelines to help you appreciate the feast fully. AMDG - John
We would love to hear things that you do to feast, both in prep and in actual feasting. The more ideas the better.
Around the year with the Vontrapp family book
Currently doing Exodus 90 with a group of men at my local parish. This video is what I needed to hear. I have no idea how to fast and now I see I don't know how to feast either. The part on gluttony was eye opening. I see how spoiled and consumer driven I am with luxruries such as food and drink. This video was great. thank you so much.
+JMJ+ Great discussion! Our daughter is a nun with the Dominican Sisters of Wanganui in New Zealand and I can honestly tell you that they really know how to follow the liturgical calendar and feast accordingly. It is always ordered appropriately.
Praise God. What a witness. Thanks for sharing.
For St Joseph’s feast day and altar table, I make the Sicilian cookies my Nana used to baked for us as grandkids. Nana always prayed before she baked! She was full of wisdom. This tradition reminds me to pray for her dear soul.
❤️
Tradition is the right word. I am glad to hear that. Family/Church traditions leave an impression and tie to the family that I hope to leave with my children. God bless!
What a wonderful episode today, guys. It really lived up to its title, as it has been a true feast enjoying it and learning with you. I had never seen in this way the activities that we do daily and that we take for granted without thanking, offering and valuing them. That is why we miss the opportunity to be happy people and stay that way in the Lord. Thank you very much and may God continue to bless you and strengthen you always with your family. Greetings!
Thank you very much! You are in our prayers as well, thank you for keep us in yours.
New subscriber here. Just found your channel.
Awesome! Thanks for joining us. AMDG - John
Good food and drink with friends followed by a nice pipe 😉
Can you talk about your abstinence from sugar and alcohol for 44 days 25:45? Will you do that multiple times in a calendar year leading up to certain feasts?
Hi @Innocentivs thanks for the question. I currently do that twice a year, Lent and Advent. Both in preparation for Easter and Christmas respectfully. To correct, I should have said 46 days, referring to the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
Those are two consumables (you might have other ones) that I enjoy but have noticed in our world of convenience and ease of access, even when I would only partake in them one or two days a week, their ability to allow me to enter into the joy of the feast was greatly diminished. When I decided to give them up completely, for the entirety of Lent (including Sundays), the experience was greatly enhanced and enjoyable. It was not a situation of overindulging, but one of enjoying the goodness of God's creation in celebration with other family and friends.
As with the psychosomatic nature of our being, there is a mental element as well. I would feel their addictive tendencies throughout the week, even when only limiting consumption to Sundays only, but when I was committed to not partaking in them for that long, those tendencies and cravings were gone by the end of the second week.
I hope that this helps. I am by no means a star example and appreciate your prayers as I strive for a deeper self-mastery in Christ.
AMDG - John
John, thank you for this very thoughtful response. It is very helpful to understand the specifics of how and why you implemented your penance of abstinence from sugar and alcohol.
I was inspired by what you said and am in the process of a 45 day fast ending on the feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
Keep up all the great work. Really appreciate what you and Sam are doing with the CG, it has made a big impact on my life. I will pray for you both!
You are welcome. Thank you for the comment and for your prayers.
Hi guys, thank you for this episode. Got to correct you on something though... Dutch people are from The Kingdom of The Netherlands, not Holland. Holland are two provinces: south-Holland and north-Holland. So big difference there. Also, The Netherlands is very much NOT a Catholic country or Catholic culture... We get up at 7 work till 17:00 eat at 17:30 and go to bed as soon as we are done staring at the TV. Of course some of us are trying to break away from this culture, but man we are far from an example for you guys. When you talk about the 'European Culture' there is none. You'll have to be more specific.
Thought i'd share this feedback with you guys. John just met a good couple I guess.
Hi @HenricusXII. All great points. Thank you for commenting. When I was saying it, I knew I would get the location wrong. My apologies and thank you.
The point that I was hoping to make is that here in America we do not know how to slow down and spend quality time with those closest to us. Our occupation does not serve our vocation, it is the other way around and this is encouraged at every level of society. Add the constant distractions and noise from our social media feeds, and we literally don't know how to interact with people and enjoy time together.
Anyways, thanks again. Please keep us in your prayers. - John
Thank you very much for the response. You are absolutley right. This must be the struggle in every western country. We men need to make the difference for our families. God bless you guys!
You aren't getting specific enough. Everything you've said has been relative. How can I tell if i am feasting correctly? How do i know if i am just doing as the world does when i feast? You haven't provided a standard i can measure my behaviour by.
I appreciate these questions. The nature of the podcast is to open up a conversation on these subjects, so coming at it with that in mind, I agree that this can be difficult for us to know we have been satisfied with our fulfillment of the feast. I very often want to know when I am doing something right or not.
When discussing feasting, I will start out by saying that while there is a moral component to the subject it is not strictly a moral issue. To my understanding, feasting is a positive (or affirmative) precept of the Faith. With the affirmative precepts, there is not a specific guide that everyone can follow exactly the same. It is rather a state of celebrating in union with the Church.
We did discuss some general guidelines such as feasting centered on love and appreciation that is done joyfully, moderately, and liturgically. These guidelines can answer some of your questions. Liturgically, for instance, this is not how the world feasts. They do not celebrate on Sundays or Christmas because of Christ. We do.
When food and drink enter into the conversation, there is the concern of indulging immoderately. This is why we mentioned St. Thomas Aquinas. However, even in his explanation of gluttony what is 'too much' for one might not be too much for another. If this is a concern, take it to prayer and a spiritual director.
We also discussed ways that, even if you are trying to feast liturgically, you might remove the fullness of the joy by indulging too frequently throughout the weeks leading up.
To our knowledge, there are no direct rules that you can follow to check off only guidelines to help you appreciate the feast fully.
AMDG - John